The computer data centers typically, consist thousands of racks each with multiple computing units. The computing units can include multiple microprocessors, each dissipating approximately 250 W of power. The heat dissipation from a rack containing such computing units can exceed 10 KW. Today's computer data center, with about 1000 racks and occupying over 30,000 square feet can require about 10 MW of power for the computing infrastructure. A 100,000 square foot computer data center of tomorrow can require 50 MW of power for the computing infrastructure. Energy required to dissipate this heat can be an additional 20 MW. A hundred thousand square foot planetary scale computer data center, with five thousand 10 KW racks, can cost about 44 million dollars per year (at $100/MWh) just to power the servers and about 18 million dollars per year to power the cooling infrastructure for the computer data center.
Cooling design consideration by virtue of proper layout of racks and fans can yield substantial savings in energy. Generally, cooling design in a high power density computer data center is quite complex. Today's intuitive distribution of air does not suffice in providing a well-balanced airflow in a computer data center such that every location in the computer data center receives a uniform airflow to improve operating efficiency and cooling performance.
In addition, many of the computer data centers are hastily planned and implemented as the needed equipment must be quickly installed on a rush schedule. The typical result is a somewhat haphazard layout on the raised floor that can have disastrous consequences due to environmental temperature disparities. Unfortunately, the dangers of this lack of planning are, is not apparent until after serious reliability problems have already occurred. Further, any changes in a computer data center due to traffic patterns, equipment changes and additions, blocked filters, failed fans, and so on can affect thermal load distribution, which in turn can affect the well-balanced airflow in a computer data center.